For union officials, self-preservation and the desire to avoid accountability to workers trumps their desire to maintain defined benefit pensions; they were willing to dump those pensions to continue mandatory dues.
Labor unions have a virtual lock on Illinois politics. Unionized government delivers services ever-less efficiently in rough proportion to its ever-increasing size.
In case you missed it, a couple of days ago journalist Dave McKinney of the Chicago Sun-Times put together an interesting history lesson on how the state of Illinois wound up committing securities fraud.
In January, Standard and Poors upgraded Californias credit rating to A from A-, an action the rating agency said resulted from the states improved fiscal condition.
PRESS RELEASE from the ILLINOIS POLICY INSTITUTE EXPERTS AVAILABLE IN CHICAGO AND SPRINGFIELD MEDIA CONTACT: Diana Rickert or Daniel Anthony daniel@illinoispolicy.org or (312) 607-4977 Illinois Policy Institute opposes Nekritz-Biss pension plan Yes, pensions must reformed, but the Nekritz-Biss bill would worsen the pension crisis, not fix it SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Jan. 8, 2013) Illinois lawmakers...
Unfortunately, 2012 was another dismal year for budget and tax policy in Illinois. It seems that the more things change the more they get worse in this state. But the Illinois Policy Institute is fighting to fix that. We believe that Illinois can once again become a beacon of economic freedom, individual liberty and prosperity....
On Tuesday Michigan’s Legislature took the final steps in passing Right-to-Work legislation, and Gov. Rick Snyder signed the bill into law. Outside the Statehouse, union protesters became more agitated, tearing down a tent where Right-to-Work supporters had gathered (a handful of people were almost trapped inside the canvas) and assaulting a Fox News correspondent. In...